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Environmental Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Focus

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Environmental Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Focus Nllfr REPORT SNO 6283-2012 Environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill - focus on effects on fish and effects of dispersants Norwegian Institute for Water Research - an institute in the Environmental Research Alliance of Norway REPORT Main Office Regional Office, Sorlandet Regional Office, Ostlandet Regional Office, Vestlandet Regional Office Central Gaustadalleen 21 Jon Lilletuns vei 3 Sandvikaveien 59 Thormohlens gate 53 D Pirsenteret, Havnegata 9 NO-0349 Oslo, Norway NO-4879 Grimstad, Norway NO-2312 Ottestad, Norway NO-5006 Bergen Norway P.O.Box 1266 Phone (47) 22 18 51 00 Phone (47) 22 18 51 00 Phone (47) 22 18 51 00 Phone (47) 22 18 51 00 NO-7462 T rondheim Telefax (47) 22 18 52 00 Telefax (47) 37 04 45 13 Telefax (47) 62 57 66 53 Telefax (47) 55 31 22 14 Phone (47) 22 18 51 00 Internet: www.niva.no Telefax (47) 73 54 63 87 Title Report No.. Date Environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill - focus on 6283-2012 07.03.2012 effects on fish and effects of dispersants Project No. Pages Price 0-11205 16 Author(s) Topic group Distribution Hilde C. Trannum Oil pollution Open Torgeir Bakke Geographical area Printed Gulf of Mexico NIVA Client(s) Client ref. The Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLE) Egil Dragsund Abstract NIVA has conducted a literature study on environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon accident for the Norwegian Oil Industry Association, and the present report summarizes this work with particular focus on fish and dispersants. The report also briefly discusses relevance for Norwegian waters. In the literature, negative effects on the population level of fish have not been reported, although there is evidence of effects on the cellular level of fish. Several exploited species were even characterized by notably higher catch rates during 2010. Despite this, the economic losses for the fishing industry were huge due to an extensive closure of fisheries and effects in the marked. Following the oil spill, large amounts of dispersants were used, mainly Corexit, and for the first time, the dispersants were added under the sea surface. It is not clear whether the dispersants were successful in reducing the overall impacts of the oil. Furthermore, there are indications that the dispersants had the potential to inhibit the natural degradation of oil. Although the use of Corexit was criticized, laboratory studies have shown that Corexit generally tends to be less toxic than several other dispersants. 4 keywords, Norwegian 4 keywords, English 1 ■ Deepwater horizon-ulykken 1 ■ Deepwater horizon accident 2 Miljpeffekter 2 Environmental effects 3 - Fisk 3 Fish 4 - Dispergeringsmidler 4 - Dispersants Torgeir Bakke Mats Walday Kristoffer Nces Project Manager Research Manager Research Director ISBN 978-82-577-6018-2 Environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill - focus on effects on fish and effects of dispersants NIVA 6283-2012 Preface NIVA has been engaged by OLF to regularly review the environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon accident, and has conducted a literature study based on peer-reviewed journal articles and technical reports released by scientific agencies and research institutions. The study focuses on the marine environment, but also includes commercial effects related to seafood. The present report sums up the main conclusions regarding known environmental effects until the end of 2011, with main focus on fish and effects of dispersants. However, also effects on other ecosystem compartments are briefly summed up. Grimstad/Oslo, 29. February 2012 Hilde C. Trannum NIVA 6283-2012 Contents Summary 5 Sammendrag 6 1. Introduction 7 2. Effects of the spilled oil 8 2.1 Fate and degradation of the oil 8 2.2 Plankton 9 2.3 Fish and seafood 9 2.4 Coastline 11 2.5 Birds, sea mammals and sea turtles 11 3. Effects of dispersants 12 4. Relevance for Norwegian waters 14 5. Reference 16 NIVA 6283-2012 Summary On 20 April 2010 the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico experienced an explosion, and oil and gas leaked out from the oil well at depths of 1500 m until 15 July when the well was sealed. In total, approximately 4.9 million barrels (780 000 m3 ) of crude oil were released to the water. The oil was spread widely and caused damage to marine and wildlife habitats and to the Gulf s fishing and tourism industries. Large amounts of dispersants were used, and for the first time, the dispersants were partly added directly at the wellhead. NIVA has been engaged by OLF to conduct a literature study regarding effects of the accident on marine life, and the present report is a summary report on documented effects until the end of 2011. The focus is on effects on fish and effects of dispersants, although effects on other ecosystem compartments briefly are summed up. There have been observed effects on the cellular level of fish, but there is no evidence of any effects on the population level. The 2010 cohorts of both non-exploited and exploited fish species were not negatively affected by the accident, and in fact tended to increase. At the same time, the economic consequences for the fishing industry were huge. Large areas of federal and state waters were closed to fishing as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of seafood. Furthermore, there was a change in the seafood demand which caused additional effects in the marked. It is not known whether the extensive use of dispersants, mainly Corexit, in fact was successful in reducing the overall impacts of the oil. There were even indications that the dispersants could inhibit the natural degradation of the oil. At the same time, however, laboratory studies have shown that Corexit generally is less toxic than several other dispersants. Although dispersants and dispersant:oil- mixtures clearly have a toxicity potential for marine organisms, there is yet no data showing toxic effects of dispersants in the field after the accident. In several of the papers, it is emphasized that it is still too early to assess long-term effects of the accident. Furthermore, several authors claim that there is a lack of field data prior to the accident, which makes it difficult to evaluate the change in several ecosystem compartments. 5 NIVA 6283-2012 Sammendrag Tittel: Milj0effekter av Deepwater Horizon-ulykken - fokus pa effekter pa fisk og effekter av dispergeringsmidler Ar: 2012 Forfattere: Hilde C. Trannum, Torgeir Bakke Kilde: Norsk Institutt for Vannforskning, ISBN 978-82-577-6018-2 20. april 2010 inntraff en eksplosjon pa boreriggen Deepwater Horizon i Mexico-gulfen, hvorpa olje og gass lekket ut fra oljebrannen i et dyp pa ca. 1500 m frem til 15. juli da brannen ble avstengt. Totalt lekket om lag 780 000 mI3 raolje* ut i havet. Oljen spredde seg betydelig og forarsaket skade pa marine habitater og villmarksomrader og pa fiskeri og turisme. Store mengder dispergeringsmidler ble benyttet, og for aller fiarste gang ble disse delvis tilsatt direkte ved brannen. NIVA har av OLF fatt i oppdrag a foreta en litteraturstudie pa effektene av ulykken pa marint liv, og den foreliggende rapporten er en sammendragsrapport pa hva som var dokumentert av effekter til og med desember 2011. Fokuset er effekt pa fisk og effekt av dispergeringsmidler, selv om effekter pa andre 0kosystemkomponenter kort er oppsummert. Det har blitt observert effekter pa cellutert niva hos fisk, men det er ingen indikasjoner pa effekter pa populasjonsnivaet. 2010-arsklassen av bade h0stede og ikke-h 0stede fiskearter ble ikke redusert som falge av ulykken, og det var faktisk tendens til 0kning av disse arsklassene. Imidlertid var de 0konomiske konsekvensene pa fiskeriindustrien store. Store fiskeriomrader ble avstengt for a sikre at all sj0maten var trygg. Videre ble ettersp0rselen etter sj0mat endret, hvilket medfarte ytterlige konsekvenser i markedet. Nar det gjelder dispergeringsmidler, hovedsakelig Corexit, er det ikke kjent hvorvidt de fungerte etter hensikten og reduserte effektene av olje. Det var til og med indikasjoner pa at dispergeringsmidlene kunne redusere den naturlige nedbrytningen av olje. Samtidig har laboratoriestudier vist at Corexit generelt er mindre giftig enn flere andre dispergeringsmidler. Selv om dispergeringsmidler og blandinger av dispergeringsmidler kan v$re giftige for marine organismer, er det ingen dokumentasjon pa toksiske effekter av dispergeringsmidler i feltsituasjonen etter ulykken. I flere av artiklene understrekes det at det fremdeles er for tidlig til a vurdere langtidseffektene av ulykken. Videre hevdes det at feltdataene som forela i forkant av ulykken var mangelfulle, hvilket gjer det vanskelig a evaluere endringer pa flere av 0kosystemkomponentene. 6 NIVA 6283-2012 1. Introduction On 20 April 2010 the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform experienced an explosion, and oil and gas leaked out from the platform at depths of 1500 m until 15 July when the well was sealed. Intotal, approximately 4.9 million barrels (780 000 m3 ) of crude oil were released to the water in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil was spread widely and caused damage to marine and wildlife habitats and to the Gulf s fishing and tourism industries. Large amounts of dispersants were used, and for the first time, the dispersants were added under the sea surface. The use of dispersants has been controversial, as the dispersants themselves may cause toxic effects in marine organisms. NIVA has been engaged by OLF to regularly review the environmental effects of the accident, and has regularly delivered technical memos to OLF which describes the findings of the latest published literature onthis topic. The literature includes peer-reviewed journal articles and technical reports released by scientific agencies and research institutions. The present report sums up the main findings regarding recorded environmental effects until the end of 2011, with main focus on fish and effects of dispersants.
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